Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is up to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to take stock about the proposed Dublin mayor and decide on how he wishes to proceed on that. It will not go away as an issue and, at some point, the people of Dublin will be asked for their view on it. I regret that this was not done on this occasion as a result of a decision of Fingal County Council.

I have a mixed view of the outsourcing of public service functions. Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes, it does not. Sometimes outsourcing does not always work and is not always better. Sometimes, it is and can work very well. Across the public service, even in agencies under my Department’s remit, because they are so constrained by the employment control framework and cannot take on additional staff, they have no other option but to outsource. This is regrettable because outsourcing should happen because it makes sense and there is a strong business case for doing so, not just because they have to as they are not allowed to take on additional staff. That is a matter the Government as a whole can consider in the coming months and the next year, now that it appears the budgetary situation is starting to improve.

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